India-US deal against country’s honour, sovereignty: Congress

The Congress on Sunday mounted a scathing critique of the Indo-US interim trade agreement, denouncing it as a blow to India’s honour, sovereignty, and national interest. Party leaders alleged that the government, under pressure from the United States, rushed into the deal with “unusual and suspicious haste”, compromising the nation’s economic and strategic interests.

At a press conference, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate castigated the government for celebrating what she termed a “compromised and coercive deal,” warning that it threatens farmers, youth, energy security, and data sovereignty. Speaking later to PTI Videos, senior leader Digvijaya Singh described the pact as distinctly “anti-farmer”, highlighting its potential to disrupt domestic agriculture.

Shrinate elaborated that had the government exercised patience and awaited the US Supreme Court’s verdict on the Trump-era tariffs, India would have been in a far stronger bargaining position. Instead, she said, the government accepted an 18 per cent tariff on Indian exports — up from just three per cent — yet presented the outcome as a triumph. “This is not a cause for celebration; it is an attempt to mislead the nation,” she asserted.

Under the terms of the agreement, Shrinate said, India committed to near-zero tariffs on American products, pledged to import nearly $500 billion worth of goods from the US over five years, and agreed to halt purchases of cheaper Russian crude. She warned that these conditions risk pushing Indian farmers to the brink, exposing domestic agriculture to an influx of foreign products while simultaneously threatening India’s energy and data security.

“By promising to forego inexpensive Russian crude, a deliberate attempt has been made to render India reliant on costlier imports, fueling inflation and burdening ordinary citizens,” Shrinate said. “Meanwhile, clauses involving the transfer of sensitive data to the US pose a grave danger to India’s digital sovereignty.”

Digvijaya Singh also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for remaining silent on what he called the “anti-farmer” agreement, while highlighting tensions on the domestic political front. The senior Congress leader condemned attacks on Congress offices by members of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) in Madhya Pradesh during protests over the AI Impact Summit in Delhi.

“The BJP’s youth wing pelted stones at Congress offices,” Singh alleged. “Yet cases are being filed against our workers. Is this justice? While peaceful protest is a democratic right, violence is unacceptable—and I oppose it in the strongest terms.”

Earlier, PM Modi had lambasted the Congress for allegedly turning an international event hosted in India into a stage for “gandi aur nangi (dirty and shameless)” politics, condemning the ‘shirtless’ protest staged by Indian Youth Congress workers. Despite Modi’s remarks, clashes continued in several parts of Madhya Pradesh, where BJYM protests outside Congress offices sparked violent encounters with rival party cadres.

In sum, the Congress has positioned itself as a fierce critic of the deal, portraying it as an imposition on India’s sovereignty, a threat to farmers, and a gamble with the nation’s economic and digital future.

With PTI inputs